Promise Under the Sakura Tree
by hoppip
Summary: He was hot, she was cold. He was the sun, she was the rain. They met under the cherry blossoms and made a promise which they intend to keep. When they meet again after 10 years, things are going to change, all because of the cherry blossoms. Pokeshippy.
1. Prologue

**2010/03/12 - REVISED **

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Pokemon or else there will only be the 150 original ones.

**Shippings:**

Pokeshipping

Contestshipping

Ikarishipping

Brock flirting….

One-sided ships

* * *

**P R O L O G U E**

_Promise Under the Sakura Tree_**  
**

By Hoppip

* * *

It was spring, the time of cherry blossoms. The wind was peacefully blowing as music for the dancing pink petals. Pallet Town is known for their breathtaking cherry blossoms, for their long-blooming flowers and for their light but sweet fragrances. Because of this, Pallet developed a tradition, and held a festival on the last day of the blooming season every year.

5 year-old Ash Ketchum always loved the cherry blossoms and the festival, but that year, it was different. His father had just passed away; it was an accident that occurred in the zoo. So this year, instead of riding on his father's shoulders while eating cotton candy and laughing with his parents while watching the fireworks, little Ash decided to stay away from all the fun and sat under his favorite tree that was by the river near the Viridian Forest. That tree wasn't the largest tree around, but Ash knew that it would become the most beautiful one in town. At least that's what his father told him.

He cried. For hours and hours, until something hit his head. He looked up and saw a girl around his age with red hair and a messy worn baby blue yukata staring down at him. Her cerulean blew eyes shedding rage. She looked angry, still in a rock-throwing position. Ash quickly wiped away his tears, not wanting to cry in front of a girl.

"Watcha crying for you big baby?" The girl yelled, obviously not in a very good mood. That made Ash confused and mad. He quickly jumped defensively, balling his fists.

"I did not cry!"

"Yes you did!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Ash was furious at that point. _Who does she think she is?_ He jumped on her and pinned her to the ground.

"So what if I cried? It's none of your business you silly girl! I can cry whenever I want!"

The girl under him looked scared for a moment, but hid her fear and tried to wiggle out of his grasp. After a while of struggling, she gave up, Ash was too heavy.

"I wanted you to stop crying. I don't like seeing people sad, it makes me sad. If you can stop crying, I will be happy," She grinned for a second but her fell grim once again, "I guess you're not happy…"

Upon hearing the strange girl's words, Ash loosened up. He got off of her and watched her sit up. Fireflies swarmed them, letting them get a better look at each other. They were both sweating, clothes covered with dirt.

"That is a very weird way to make someone happy ya know." He suddenly said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Well yeah… I sometimes have problems with my temper. I always get mad. I dun wanna be mad though, I wanna be happy." The girl replied while looking down.

Ash couldn't help to smile. He always liked to smile, until he found out his father died in his favorite place in the world. This has been the first time after the incident. He liked the girl, even though they had a bad approach.

"Why are you smiling? Don't you hate me? I made you mad." The girl asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Nah. I dun hate no one." He said, still smiling.

"Oh…Then can you always smile? I don't get that very often. Most people don't come near me. They think I'm cursed. Kids dun like me very much. They think my hair is scary... and I talk weird."

"I dun think you're weird. I want you to be ma fwend!"

"Oh, OK! I wanna be your friend too!" The girl was practically grinning from ear to ear.

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company. The fireworks had just started. And as children, they both watched in awe, smiling and hugging each other when the sounds startle them. The fireflies were fluttering around them, content with what was happening.

After the fireworks ended, the little girl asked a question:

"Why were you crying?"

Ash flinched. He wasn't expecting that question. But because he liked the girl so much, he decided to tell her.

"My daddy just died. I loved daddy. He's the best daddy in the whole wide world! He loved me and mommy. He loved the zoo. But he's gone now. He went with the pwetty flowers to heaven. Daddy loved the pwetty flowers. They're his favorite. I miss him so much…" Ash couldn't help it but tears streamed down his face.

"My daddy died too, and so did mommy. It was a long time ago, and my sisters blamed me for it. I don't know how they died, but they just did. I loved them… I didn't cry. I didn't cry because they won't love me anymore if I cried. Mommy and daddy always scolded me when I cried, but smiled when I laughed. So please don't cry, or your daddy in heaven will cry too." The little girl had a sad smile on her face. Ash looked at her, thought about what she said, and smiled again as he wiped away his tears.

"Yeah! That's right! I won't cry! If I cry, daddy ain't gonna be happy!" He said as he jumped up and grabbed her hand. He took her arm in his and danced around in circles. The girl was surprised, but she savored the moment of joy and went along with it. Before long, Ash heard his name being called. It was his mother.

"Oh no! I have to go! Where do you live? I wanna play with you again. I'm Ash. What's your name?" Ash asked, frantically trying to hurry up before his mother finds him and drag him away from his new friend before he knew her name.

"I—I'm moving tomorrow…and my name is Misty…I don't think I'll see you again. My sisters got new acting jobs in another city so we're not gonna be in Pallet anymore…" The girl answered.

Ash's face fell. It's a sad thing about little kids. Meeting someone and becoming best friends instantly, but they always have to say goodbye, sometimes temporarily, and sometimes forever.

"It's ok. We'll see each other again. You gotta come back and visit me! I'll be waiting here for you, right under this tree. I promise!" Ash cried before running to his mother's echoing calls, leaving young Misty with hopes on seeing her new best friend again. She smiled on her way home, with packing awaiting her return.

It was a promise under the sakura tree, and none of them is going to forget it…

* * *

_Ten years later…_

"Yo Ashy-Boy! Did you hear? We're getting a transfer student from Cerulean today! I hear she's got brains and beauty. We'd better take her in before the welcoming committee airheads swarms her." Gary Oak said, being his cocky self.

"Hey! Who are you calling an airhead? We have very important jobs as the welcome committee. And I hope you and your little posse isn't going to scare the new student away like last time!" Dawn Berlitz yelled angrily from the front of the class.

"Shuddup. Troublesome. You're going to scare away the new student with your face." Paul said as he sat down beside her.

Before Dawn could start to rip her partner's head off, her best friend May Maple came to calm her down and glared at Paul before she made her way back to her desk.

"Hmm…transfer student eh? We haven't got one around here for ages! The last one here was little Kenny. It's about time we have some fun." Drew Hayden remarked as he sat down at his desk behind Gary. Then he pointlessly ran his fingers through his emerald green hair, which received fangirl sighs and a glare from May.

Ash Ketchum wasn't paying attention. He was a mama's boy all right, but he never acted like one in public.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He replied and looked out the window beside him as the class bell rang.

The loud excited conversations coming from the students dropped down to whispers as their homeroom teacher Professor Rowan walked into the room and wrote something on the board.

_Misty Waterflower_

"Class, say hello to the elite student from Cerulean High, Miss Misty Waterflower…"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Hehe, so what do you think? This is my first attempt on fanfiction. I hope you liked it. Please review. Constructional criticism is welcome. I'm new to story writing and I hope to get better. If you have any suggestions to the plotline and characters, please let me know.


	2. Misty

**DISCLAIMER:** I own pokemon. That is because today, pigs fly! Yeah right.

For the people who actually took the time read my story, I apologize for not updating for so long, but school has been really hard…kinda…ish…

Anyways…enjoy

* * *

**M I S T Y**

_Promise Under the Sakura Tree_

By Hoppip

* * *

Misty Waterflower. There is nothing special about her. But she obviously isn't your average 15 year old. She was loved by her late parents, but ignored by her sisters. Daisy, Violet, and Lily did not hate their baby sister. It's just that they had no way of communicating with each other. In their world, it's manicures, pedicures, facials, and hot guys. But to Misty, those things were useless. Sure she doesn't look like a garbage truck everyday, but she kept away from miniskirts, make-up, and anything hot pink.

_Ordinary_ is not a word to describe her. Flaming red hair reflecting her red-hot temper cascades her well built shoulders. Her cerulean blue eyes are usually slightly covered by her ginger bangs, to hide her true emotions that are projected through her eyes. Those thick lens-less glasses she wears all the time is merely a façade. Sure she's smart, but those glasses sure brings out her wish to keep away from the society.

Misty isn't emo. She just doesn't like, uh, people. Keeping herself away from the friendly was just how she liked it. Besides reading every book she can get her hands on, she also enjoys swimming. She adores swimming to be exact. To her, water is her real home where she is always welcome, where she can release all the pain from her past, where she can think about that special little boy she met under the cherry blossoms.

Now that her sisters found a modeling gig in Pallet, Misty is able to fulfill her childhood dream, to meet that boy again under the very same tree. She isn't expecting him to be her prince charming, but her friend. The same friend that made her smile after all the years of pain and sorrow, She really wants to smile again, and perhaps laugh a little, more than anything in the world. Anyways, _he_ made a promise, and she knows that he is going to keep it.

Today, after 10 years, Misty Waterflower is back in Pallet, and things are going to change…

* * *

_Honk Honk_

"Misty! Like let's go or like we're not gonna like give you a ride to like your new school!" Daisy, the oldest blond yelled from her magenta convertible.

"Like yeah! Like we're gonna be late for our photo shoot with…uh…whatever his name is!" Violet added as she applied her mascara for the eighth time.

"Like hurry uuuuuppppppppp!!!!" Lily screeched with her high pitched voice, still hitting the car horn like she's playing whack-a-mole with one hand and brushing her pink hair with the other.

Despite her sisters' complaints from outside, Misty continued tearing down her room in search for her rubber band. She wouldn't go one day without tying her hair in a side ponytail. With her new school uniform, which consists of a loose button-up blouse with a pink cherry blossom logo and initials SH, a cute petite black tie with the same pink logo, and a short plaited skirt that consists black, grey, and pale pink. In spite of the girliness of the uniform, Misty chose to wear black converse with high knee socks.

But as her sisters hollered and honked for over 10 minutes, Misty gave up her treasure hunt. She ran down the stairs of their three-story townhouse, grabbed an apple, put on her black uniform coat, put on her backpack, and tripped out the door. To her dismay, her sisters got impatient and took off without their youngest sister. Misty had no choice but to ride her bike to school, not that she had any problems with that. She'd rather ride quietly by herself than listen to her sisters rant about how their boyfriends treat them in bed.

With that note, she jumped on her red bike, not bothering to put on a helmet, and started riding to school. On the way to Sakura High, Misty enjoyed the view. Her favorite flowers, cherry blossoms, were all along the roads, dancing and swirling with the light breeze. For the first time in many years, the sides of her mouth curved slightly.

But her happiness ended really soon, as soon as she say the guy running towards her. At first she thought that he needed to the way to get to school, for he was wearing similar clothes as her except with long black pants instead of a skirt. But she dropped that thought really soon.

Suddenly the guy was right in front of her, so Misty had to stop.

"Hey! I'm sorry but I'm going to be late for school so can I please catch a ride with you?" The guy said, scratching his head and tilting his red cap.

Misty saw this coming and answered smoothly. "No. I do not know how to carry a fat person on my bike."

"For your information, I am not fat you scrawny little girl! Anyways, I was planning to carry you since you would be too slow anyways." His brown orbs suddenly turned darker.

"I forbid you to ---------" Before she could finish her sentence, the "fat" guy dragged her off her bike, carried her bridal style, and dumped her at the back of the bike. He hopped on and started pedaling like he was running for his life.

"You are going to pay for this you fat person." Misty said monotonously as she pulled on the guy's ears.

"You back there! Stop hurting me or we're gonna be late! Ow ow ow…."

"No! What you did is against the law! You are not supposed to carry someone without their consent, take over their bike, and tell them to stop hurting you! It's called self defense!"

"You, my friend is downright weird. Lot's of girls would kill for me to carry them on their bike. Boy, if my girlfriend sees me like this, she'll kill me…"

"Oh really? I guess I will help her!"

"Hey! I am doing you a favor here! You are going to get to school a lot faster than with you pedaling with your scrawny chicken legs!"

"Are you calling my legs fat you fat person!?!"

"Wha-?!?"

"You are so gonna pay for this!"

"Yeah yeah, that's what they all say…"

"All?! You did this before?"

"No!!! People in movies! Yeesh!"

"Oh. WELL SAY IT CLEARLY NEXT TIME!"

"WELL I DON'T HAVE TO IF YOU'RE SO STUPID!"

"ME, STUPID. HA! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S STUPID!"

"Oh my F****** GOD! A FIRE! GET OFF!"

With that said, they both screamed and immediately jumped of the fateful bike. Poor Misty watched the bike she got from mother burn ever so delightfully on the burning car that magically caught on fire before she ran there and grabbed it out before it burnt to ashes.

"YOU BURNED MY BIKE MISTER AND YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR IT!"

The guy was smart enough to run before she finished the sentence.

Lucky for Misty, the burning car belongs to some unlucky student from Sakura High, still flaming in the school parking lot. Besides that, Sakura High seemed like a promising high school. With four floors of oak, the smell's quite refreshing. But it meant one thing – bugs, Misty's worst fear. But she quickly shook off the feeling of spiders crawling up her legs in math class…

She walked into the elaborate front door, which creaked quite loudly as she pushed it open. Following the map she got from her sisters when she signed up, she found herself in the front office, and found a lady with swirly pink hair waiting for her.

"You must be Misty right my dear. I am your counselor, Jessie, who is also responsible for the rest of the freshman twerps in this school. Your homeroom is 203B and your teacher is Professor Rowan. Come with me twerpette."

Misty did not want to talk to this Jessie woman, so she just nodded and followed her into her homeroom. The halls were emptied by that time, occasionally with some kids running into their classrooms. They walked up the stairs onto the second floor and into the B wing, stopped in front of the door that said "Rowan's Lab". _Science teacher._ She thought as she rolled her eyes.

Jessie then knocked on the door and an old man with a fluffy white moustache in a lab coat came out and led her in.

"Miss Waterflower, would you please introduce yourself?" The professor asked in his husky voice.

Misty merely nodded and said boredly "My name is Misty."

Professor Rowan only coughed to her cold response. "Well Miss Waterflower, you'll be sitting next to Mr. Ketchum. Ketchum! Stand up!"

To Misty's surprise, the boy who stood up hid his face under his bright red cap, was the guy who burned her bike.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

DONE! I finished this in 3 hours…I know, sad T^T

But I hope you enjoyed it. The middle there was more uh…badly attempted comedy. I tried to tie it in with the anime.

Anyways, please review. Constructional criticism is always welcome. If someone would like to beta for me, I would be grateful because I am a careless person who is still a newbie in this writing business.

Until Next Time

~Hoppip


	3. Burning Ashes

**DISCLAIMER:** I would like to own Pokemon so I would be rich and Misty would be still on the show, but too bad, I don't

I updated earlier this time…a lot earlier. So proud :D –poundschestliketarzan-. This is mainly because I am really sick and staying at home to write even though I already missed 3 tests. Not that you care…

I just want to say thanks to the people who took the time to review this story. I feed off of reviews, I run on reviews, I NEED REVIEWS.

Anyways, read and enjoy

* * *

**B U R N I N G ~ A S H E S**

_Promise Under the Sakura Tree_

By Hoppip

* * *

_As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-__**burning**__ and unquenchable._

-Bruce Lee

* * *

He was hot.

.

She was cold.

.

He was fire.

.

She was ice.

.

He loved the bright sunshine.

.

She enjoyed the cold rain.

.

He was the sun.

.

She was the rain.

.

He wanted to live in a fairy tale.

.

She thought fairy tales were unreal.

.

He wanted to be someone's knight in shining armor.

.

She despised princesses, for they're so weak.

.

He thought the world was a wonderful place.

.

She hated the life she must live.

.

He lived for everyone who he loves and loves him.

.

She only lived for him.

.

He will someday be frozen.

.

She would one day break through the ice.

.

He will meet her.

.

She will meet him.

.

And things will change.

.

* * *

Ash Ketchum never met anyone like her. The bright red hair and the sudden changes of colors in her eyes, they were all so – different. When he first saw her riding on her bike down the street, her eyes were greenish blue, almost warm. But as soon she looked at him, they changed into a shade of icy blue. When he asked her for help, she refused bluntly right in front of his face. She did not soften for his friendliness but called him fat. He knew that he wasn't fat…was he?

She was like no other girls in his school. They actually would want to have Ash Ketchum carry them on a bike. Heck, they would die for him to talk to them. So nicely asking did not work so he of course had to come up with a way or he would be late. He wasn't the smartest guy around, but he wasn't weak. He just picked her up and dumped her back there and just started pedaling. Again, unlike other girls who would have blushed, she nagged him, scolded him, and pulled on his ears without mercy.

But now inside his science classroom, standing up from his assigned seat, he watched her walk down the aisles of other students from below his red cap. Not daring to show his face to her, he could still feel the coldness that she was shedding. He was scared. But suddenly she just stopped there, right in front of his desk. He looked up and saw her staring menacingly down at him. She was scary. He could imagine her hair sticking up in flames…death was not an option.

For a few seconds, they just stared at each other. Ash couldn't help but find her familiar but he just couldn't figure out where he'd seen her. After mouthing "fat guy" with her rosy lips, she sat down to the seat beside him. After she sat down, Ash stumbled into his seat beside the window. For the first time in his life, his friendliness would not come out of him.

As Ash turned his head back to the front of the class, he noticed everyone staring at them. It was awkward but she didn't seem to notice. Luckily Professor Rowan did not want waste any time and started the lesson on Optics right away. Ash wasn't the study guy. His grades weren't great and he would fail one or two classes. Instead of listening to his teacher, he just turned his head and stared out the window. For the next half an hour, Professor just reviewed the things he talked about the classes before.

Ash occasionally glanced at lab partner and found her sleeping. She was good. Her textbook was placed high on the table, opened to a random page. She was behind the book, snoozing. It also helped because they're at the back of the room and the ever so broad Sid was right in front of her, blocking the professor's view.

Professor Rowan stopped talking for a while and Ash took his view away from the window only to find him passing out booklets. She was already awake by that time. As Ash got his paper, he noticed that the words said "Pop Quiz". He did not panic, having tests when he knows nothing about the topic came too often for him. He did not care if he failed; the painful part was seeing his mother sad about it.

Ash could not help but notice the redhead beside him as calm as him. She just took a long nap and did not learn anything with them. But her glasses did not make her seem like someone who would wing a test.

"You may start your test now."

With that note, Ash and the rest of the students of 203B flipped their test booklet open.

_What does electrical discharge run on?_

Ash knew that is was going to be a long test…

* * *

_Ring_

"Ok students, will you now all hand in your tests please."

"Damn that was hard!" Gary Oak said as he put his test papers into the basket on Professor Rowan's desk.

"What do you expect," Ash replied tiredly at his best friend since they were born. "I guessed half of the questions." He quickly stole a glance at the ginger haired girl who expressionlessly put her test papers into the basket and gave a little yawn. He was furious. It was like she was mocking all the other students who thought it was hard. He _knew_ that she was going to fail because she's just an arrogant but scary person you can hardly call a girl. No make-up, short hair, and gave no attention to him or any of the other guys in the class.

Ritchie, Ash's second best friend noticed something different about Ash. "Hey dude, why aren't you all friendly with the new student? She shouldn't be that hard to get along with, she's a girl."

"Ha! A girl! I don't know what to do with her. I tried this morning, but I guess having everyone in this class like me is going to be impossible." It was not a good time to say those words because Misty was right behind him, ready to release her wrath.

But instead of killing him on the spot, she decided to have a little fun and get justice for her deceased bike. "Fat guy, you burned my bike."

"Eh?" Ash turned his head and found his worst nightmare glaring down at him. "I'm sorry, uh, Muffy? But it was an accident. I'll pay you back someday, I promise." He finished it off with a sheepish grin and sweating from head to toe.

"First of all, my name is Misty, not Muffy. Second, there is no way I'm going to get to school now. You have to pay triple the amount of damage you did today." She said coldly, her eyes even more icy than usual.

Before Ash could protest or cower, Gary came to save the day, at least for Ash. "How bout you catch a ride with me every day on my red convertible." It wasn't much of a question. Misty only snorted in response.

"Why would I ride in your car everyday?"

Gary was caught by surprise. She was doing this new girl a favor. But his face immediately went back to that seductive expression and an arrogant smirk. "Playing hard to get?" He thought out loud, "It's a good thing you're hot. I mean look at your legs!"

Misty was mad. She was furious. She did not like people judging her appearance or hitting on her. She never expected something to happen so soon.

"Gary, leave her alone. She just transferred and you're already trying to get her in bed with you? That's just sick." Dawn said as she walked back to her seat in the front row.

"Oh come on Dawn baby. It's not like we never tried that before. You were drooling over me. But she's a tough shell to crack. I can't even get her into my freakin' car!" Gary exaggerated the last sentence, his smirk still in place.

Dawn immediately reddened at what he said. "Hey! We weren't in bed exactly. I blew you off, remember? Now stop going around saying that to everyone because it isn't true!" Before storming out of the classroom, she scowled at the people who were staring at her sudden outburst.

Everyone in the class was speechless in the class except for the playboy Gary who was laughing maniacally. "Ahahahaha. Did you see that? Paul, you should really control your girlfriend or I'm gonna persuade her into taking a ride on the Gary express, now more hard, more fast, and more stuff coming out of it!"

"She's not my girlfriend. You can do whatever you want with that troublesome girl." With that note, the violet haired boy took out a random book and started to read soundlessly.

"Yeah right. She's not your girlfriend. What are you going to tell me later? You're not her boyfriend?" Gary turned back to Misty. "You know Miss Long Legs, I'm quite popular around here. It would boast your popularity to go for a ride with me. Maybe you and I can hang out after our little ride, you know, where can get down and dirty. I can just picture where your legs are going to be and the rest of your body. The Gary Express is going make you a very happy girl, I can go faster and make the road a lot more painfully pleasurable just for you." He finished off with a wink.

Misty was not happy about this. This guy was crossing the line. Class was going to start and she has to change for swimming. There's her chance to ditch this perv.

"I'm sorry Mister Hedgehog but I am not interested in that. You are disgusting. Now will you excuse me, I have to get to my next class." Her voice was strong with the distaste of Gary's behavior. She left Professor Rowan's Lab right after.

Unexpectedly, Gary still kept that smirk on his face. He always got his girl. He pretty much played with all of the girls in Pallet and is not going to back down on this one. Not with those legs. But his expression changed as he saw Ash chucking beside him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! She called you a HEDGEHOG! I mean, look at your hair!" Ash said between his furies of giggles. Even though the girl was not nice and frightens him immensely, but her dissing Gary was too good to be true. "Dude, you should really get her to ride on your car. That way, I would never have to be late in the morning anymore. Her insults at you are something I'm not going to miss. Today, she calls you a hedgehog. Who knows what she'll say tomorrow!"

Gary wasn't going to let Ash laugh at him all day. "Well, Ashy-boy. I'm going to get her to ride with us every single day. Maybe you can even drive Ol' Priscilla while we make out in the back. Now let's go, with still have to change for swimming class. The ladies are waiting to see my extremely hot body and I'm itching to see theirs'!"

* * *

Ash Ketchum does not like the cold icy water. It reminds him of the scary girl he met this morning. Swimming for one and a half hours in there every two days was bad enough, but swimming with the scary girl is just excruciating. Rudy, the swimming teacher assigned Misty to be his partner for the rest of the year. She's the only one that he cannot be his positive self around. She puts out his flames. She drenches him in the cold. She freezes him up. But apparently being the only one that does not have a partner in the whole class, it was the only choice.

It's not like he doesn't like her. He likes her when she's making fun of Gary. But something about her just isn't right. Ash could see through people, read their emotions, despite his denseness. Misty was sad, and it was her only emotion. There's a part of him that wanted to make her happy and show her how nice it is to be happy for a while. But the other part of him just wants to leave her the way she was. He was confused because she looked so familiar. But he wasn't surprised. The car accident that happened 9 years ago gave him permanent amnesia. It took him two months to recognize his own mother. All he remembered after the mysterious car crash was to wait for someone under the cherry blossom tree on the night of the festival. He didn't know whom, but he went every year anyways. But last year, he found Angie under the tree. They have been going out ever since. He didn't know if she's the person he's been waiting for, but it had to mean something.

In his trance of thoughts, he noticed that he was pushed into the freezing water after standing on the edge for over five minutes. He lifted his head from the water and found Misty smirking proudly from the edge of the pool.

"Hey! What did you do that for you big meanie?"

"Well, you looked really dirty so I thought taking a bath is necessary. You're all clean now, you should thank me."

"THANK YOU? I'M FREEZING COLD!"

"Meh."

Just then, Gary swam over in the middle of their bickering. "Hey Miss Long Legs, you look hot."

Misty on the other hand was having fun making Ash miserable, turned her head and scowled at Gary. "Leave me alone Hedgehog."

"Leave you alone? Not possible. Unless you and I have a little bet. Today, Rudy is letting us just swim around the pool to practice for the exam next glass. We can use one of the lanes and have a one-on-one swim-off. 1200m, freestyle If you win, I will not bug you anymore. But if I win, you have to ride on my car every single say, morning and afternoon. Comprende?"

"Hmm…Freedom. Swimming contest….you're on." Misty said confidently. Swimming was her thing, and she can beat him to pulp. "Let's have fat guy here be the judge." Turning her head to Ash, she said "If there's anything wrong with the results, your head is not going to be very happy."

"Ok then, let's race!"

Misty and Gary, both in readying positions at the starting points of lane 6, preparing to dive in and swim for their lives. With a blow of a whistle, both competitors dived into the water and started swimming. Misty started off with a simple front crawl and so did Gary. They were head to head but Misty occasionally was in the front. By the fifth lap, Gary was 100m behind. It was hopeless for him. He was good, but no one expected Misty to be better.

Gary was not about to let this opportunity slip. He started speeding up and caught up to Misty. But on the last lap, Misty released all of her energy and charged into the finish line. Gary was close behind. Taking off her goggles, Misty grinned triumphantly at Ash who was dumbfounded. She earned her freedom fair and square.

Everybody in the class was watching, once again speechless at Misty's behavior. She beat Gary, the fastest swimmer in the whole school. Rudy was really impressed and encouraged her to join the swim team, which she happily accepted. Gary only panted in defeat. His fangirls who were obviously oblivious to the bet were weeping that their hunky heartthrob lost to a girl.

Before anything else could happen, an announcement went on.

"_Will Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower please report the office. Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower. This is urgent."_

Without further ado, both teens grabbed a towel and ran down to the office. Something was not right. The lady's voice was not calm as she was this morning when she announced the Math Contest winners. They were both scared, dripping water on the once-dry hallway floor.

Both of them charged into the office door at the same time, and found Jessie and the Principal, Professor Oak waiting them. As soon as they saw them, they led the two into a small office. Their faces lacked color. They both just sat there, not knowing how to start. It was Jessie who spoke first.

"Ash, we're sorry to tell you that your house has been burned down this morning."

Ash's head was down, not wanting to look up. "How about my mother?"

It was the professor who answered this time. "They found a female body inside the house. It was burned too badly to identify. We're sorry."

Tears started to stream down the boy's face. He loved his mother, more than anything in the whole wide world. She was there for him for everything: they car crash, his elementary graduation, and when he was sick. Now she's gone. He hasn't been able to do anything for her yet. He was lost. He did not know what to do. She was the only one left in his family.

"But don't worry, Misty's sisters has offered for you to live with them before things are sorted out. They are really nice people. I'm sure, you will get along with them really well." Jessie added.

"Ash, Delia was a good woman. I knew her for a long time. I'm sure she doesn't want you to be too sad. She wants you to be happy no matter what happens. Misty, I want you to escort Ash to your house right now. Forget classes for today. You are both dismissed." Professor Oak finished gravely.

Misty did not know what to do either. When her own parents died, nobody was there to comfort her. She was miserable until she met _him_.

"Come on fat guy. Your mom won't love you anymore if you cry. She will cry in heaven too. She went with the pretty flowers, and will always watch over you." Misty soothed. It was the first time she talked to him without the iciness in her voice.

Oddly enough, the words sounded really familiar to Ash. It reminded him of the cherry blossoms 10 years ago. No, it couldn't be her. It was Angie that he was always waiting for. But he followed Misty out of the school anyways.

They walked quietly along the way. But Ash broke the silence.

"I want to see my house first." Ash said softly. Misty only nodded.

As they got the house, they both gasped in surprise. There was nothing left but some broken glass and a big pile of deep gray ash. Even the cherry blossom tree that Delia Ketchum was tending so lovingly was burned right down to dust. There, the once bright, happy, and loving Ash Ketchum broke down in tears. Kneeling on the floor, crying for hours and hours. Misty helplessly watched as the boy slowly changed…

* * *

He was once the sun.

.

She thought twice about being the rain.

.

His heart was shattered.

.

Her mind was shattered.

.

He no longer believed in fairy tales.

.

She only wished for one.

.

He lost the dream of saving someone, for he could not even save himself.

.

She envied princesses, for the pain was too much.

.

He's now frozen, the ashes have burned.

.

She's thawing out of her own icy cave.

.

Things have already changed.

.

* * *

"_Why are you doing this?"_

"_Because I love you."_

"_You love me? That's a lie. I know what you did. You killed him. You killed my husband." _

"_I did that because I loved you."_

"_But I don't love you. I despise you."_

"_My, Isn't that a strong word? But you'd better obey all of my orders. They life of your son is in your hands._

"_What do you want me to do?"_

_

* * *

_

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

_Love is like a fire, it can either warm your heart or burn your house down_

_

* * *

_

LONGEST CHAPTER YET!!!

Ah yes…I tried to make this chapter more dark. I really love mysteries and I hope to write one someday. I recently read Agatha Christie's Mystery on the Orient Express. It was epic. If you like reading mysteries, I recommend this book. If you already read it, then thumbs up for you.

One of my lovely reviewers, **Ah-nonymous** said something about this story becoming the next "All For One" by **LicoriceJellybean**. My face is heating up right now…hehe. **LicoriceJellybean'**s "All For One" is really really good (I know, I lack vocabulary). I think I still have a long way to go because I really need to improve on my vocabulary, themes, and a bunch of other stuff. If one day this fic can be that good, I would do something really big that I can't think of right now…

I tried to change up the style a bit. I know it's bad to do that in the middle of a story but if I get positive feedback on it, I would consider revising the previous chapters to this matter. So PLEASE REVIEW!

~Hoppip


	4. Fireflies

**DISCAIMER:** This is getting old. I don't own pokemon, but I do own this story.

I hope people enjoyed the last chapter. I put a lot of effort into it (ehehehe). I thank my reviewers for reviewing, I really appreciate it.

Now, on to chappy 4!

* * *

**F I R E F L I E S**

_Promise Under the Sakura Tree_

By Hoppip

* * *

_Her sanguine spirit turns every firefly into a star._

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

* * *

Misty was confused. She did not like the guy. He broke her bike. But she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. His house was burned down and his mother was gone. It reminded her of herself, and the fire that took the lives of her parents when she was four. It wasn't exactly her fault, but her sisters blamed her for it. She still remembers it clearly…

F L A S H B A C K

"_Mommy, Daddy, are you like going to like watch our ballet recital today?" A ten-year-old Daisy asked in her high-pitched girly voice while innocently curling her newly straightened blond hair. _

"_Like yeah! We're like the Three Musketeers this time!" Eight year old Violet and Daisy said simultaneously. They still haven't got over their "twin thing" yet. _

"_Sorry kids. We're too tired today. Maybe next time. Let your aunt take you there today." Their father said softly, slumped over on the couch._

"_Let us rest. I promise we'll see your next performance." Their mother said with a tired smile as she ran her fingers through her bright red hair. _

"_It's like all your fault Misty." Lily said as she turned to the little girl who had the same exact hair color as her mother. She sat on the blue loveseat. He eyes were similar to those of her father's, but they are able to change color according to her mood. _

"_Like yeah! We like hate you." Violet added as she flipped her dyed indigo hair and turned to put on her dainty ballet shoes. _

"_Like whatever! Let's go girls!" Daisy said as she stomped out of the door. The other two followed._

"_Mommy, Daddy, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you swim with me today." Misty said sadly as she crawled off the loveseat. "How about I sing something for you?"_

"_That would be lovely darling." Her mother said softly as she closed her eyes. Misty grinned. She got up from the loveseat and nearly ran to the piano. She climbed onto the chair that was quite big for her and lifted the lid of the Steinway grand piano. She squealed in delight as she settled her tiny hands onto the nicely polished keys. She loved that piano. Her family owned it for many generations. The age of the piano only made the pitch richer and clearer. As little Misty started to play, it was like nothing was happening around in the world, just her and the piano. Soon, she began to sing…_

In the night sky, they twinkle

The far stars of gold

The same color as the small bird that looked up in my dream last night

In the sleepless night, I sing this song alone

Together with the blowing wind,

I fly riding on my thoughts

In the night sky, it sparkles

The distant moon of silver

The same color as the wild rose that was blooming in my dream last night

In the gentle night, I sing this song alone

Let me sing with you tomorrow

Riding the wings of dreams

In the gentle night, I sing this song alone

Let me sing with you tomorrow

Riding the wings of dreams

(music stops)

_Misty lifted her hands from the piano keys and stood up, feeling much happier now. She turned to her parents and bowed, with a bright smile on her face. She saw that her parents were already asleep and giggled. Her parents deserved that rest. They were swimming with her for hours and hours, they were exhausted. But Misty, their little mermaid wasn't tired at all. She had loved the water since she was really really young, not that she wasn't young at the time. So, not wanting to wake her parents, she tiptoed out of the living room and went out of the house and into the backyard. She was expecting fireflies that night, like every night before. But there were none. She used to dance with the fireflies every night, it made her happy, but not seeing them that night made her heart feel empty. _

_Suddenly, she heard a loud explosive noise coming from inside the house. As she turned her head, flames exploded out of the windows and hit her. She was flung onto the cherry blossom tree in her yard. The trees shook and pedals rapidly spun in the smoking wind. Misty squeezed her eyes shut against the billowing smoke. Misty opened her weary, dull blue eyes and stared at her burning house._

"_Mommy, daddy…" And everything went black._

E N D ~ F L A S H B A C K

As Misty came back to reality, she tried hard not to let the tears flow out of her eyes. She could not cry in front of Ash. One, she did not want to show any weakness. Two, he already felt bad enough, and it would be weird to see the last person on Earth that would be crying with him. Besides, she didn't feel like explaining all that to him. She didn't want people to feel sorry for her. Pity was something for other people, not Misty Waterflower.

On their way to Misty's house, none of them spoke a word to each other. As they reached the glamorous townhouse villas, Misty said, "We're here." Ash, who was walking with head down the whole time, glanced up at the 3-story townhouse and gaped. Even though he lived in a single house, the townhouse that stood right in front of him was elaborate. The outside was painted pearl white, with vines running down the walls in appealing patterns. The windows were enormous, all with baby blue railings. And the yard, it was beautiful. Roses, daisies, violets, and lilies were planted with flavor. There was a small fountain with live fishes inside. Beside it, there was a baby cherry blossom tree, yet to bloom.

"Those flowers were planted by my sisters, or their gardening specialists. But I planted the tree there." Misty broke the silence and pointed at the small tree. "Since you're going to be living here, you're going to be the one who takes care of it."

Ash recognized the type of tree immediately. He gave a worn out smile, completely different from his usual toothy grin. "Sure, it's going to be just as big as the one in my front yard."

Misty was shocked. She never knew that. She was trying to be nice to him, well kind of. But she wasn't expecting to give him a painful memory. But seeing the smile on Ash's face, she relaxed. Why was she caring about him anyways? He's the stupid one who's always happy. But losing someone that important was an exception. "Why don't you come inside before you catch a cold?" She said. Ash jumped a little, for the first time that they were standing in pouring rain. But of course, he couldn't distinguish his tears from the heavy raindrops. So he shrugged and followed Misty as she unlocked the door.

"Make yourself at home. Knowing my sisters, I'm pretty sure that they already got you a set of clothes ready." Ash nodded. He followed Misty upstairs like a lost puppy, not bothering to admire the lavish furniture and decorations around the house. Misty stopped at the first door up the stairs and found a note stuck on the door with neat, cursive printing in pink pen.

_Misty, Ash's going to be sharing a room with you. We already got his stuff ready for him. You two figure it out yourselves. We're really busy today so you deal with your dinner._

_-xoxo Daisy_

"Bullshit." Misty muttered under her breath, "How dare they come into my room without asking." She pushed the door open angrily and gestured Ash to go inside. At first, he wanted to just dump his dripping backpack on the floor, but he was awestruck at Misty's room. He didn't expect anything too girly, but he didn't expect anything as cool either. The walls were painted with large wave patterns, giving it a strong aura. There was a bunk bed by the extremely large windows, each with sapphire blue sheets, which looked comfy. There were two desks on each side of the room, one was black, and the other was silver. Ash took off his shoes and stepped onto the fuzzy, baby blue carpet, warming him slightly from the rain. He turned his body towards the door, only to find a huge closet with a mirror surface. After hearing a click, his gaze explored the room, finding water Pokemon posters all around the walls.

"At least my sisters didn't take off the posters." She muttered crossly. Misty also explored the room a little, sliding the closet door open, and saw two sides. On the right side, there were her old clothes. On the left side, there were a few articles of male clothing. "Looks like we'll have to shop for your clothes. But change first. Take something from this closet and go to the bathroom. Don't come out until I tell you to."

Ash walked to the closet, randomly pulled out some clothes and walked to the bathroom that was connected to the bathroom. After he closed the door, Misty sighed. She began to rummage through her wardrobe and pulled out a large yellow t-shirt and loose gray sweatpants. She rapidly pulled off her drenched uniform and slipped on her casual attire. "You can come out now."

On cue, Ash opened the bathroom door and slowly stepped out. He was wearing a form of skinny jeans with a loose red hoodie. He looked awkward and Misty tried her best not to laugh at him. His clothes did not suit him at all, especially the jeans. His face was a tint red, hinting that he wasn't exactly comfortable either. Without a word, Misty walked out of their bedroom, waving a hand for him to tell him to follow.

"We're eating ramen tonight. Trust me, you don't want to taste my cooking." She said as the descended the stairs, trying to lighten the mood, not that she cared. As they reached the kitchen, she immediately opened the cupboard and randomly took out 2 packages. As she cooked, Ash stood in front of the petite dining table. He felt numb, from what happened in the morning. He still couldn't believe what happened to his mother. After Misty was done, she brought their food to the table.

"Sit down. The space is quite small but it'll fit two people." She settled herself in one of the white leather chairs. "My sisters don't usually eat at home." With that, she started eating her ramen almost soundlessly. After a few bites, she would glance up at Ash. Each time, she just found him sitting there, not touching his food. Like that, two minutes passed. Misty had already finished her dinner whereas Ash's was just sitting on the table, untouched.

Wiping her face with a napkin, Misty said, "not that it's any of my business, but your mother wouldn't want you to starve." Not wanting to press on at Ash's fragile stage, she pulled herself up from the chair and headed towards the patio door. As she was pulling on an indigo blue hoodie, she stole a glance at her raven-haired new roommate. His chocolate orbs were shining dully. He stared blankly down at the food he was currently slowly eating, chewing soundlessly without any vigor. It was obvious that he was trying to hold back tears. Misty sighed softly and slid the glass door open. She put on an old pair of red sneakers and stepped outside into the cool evening breeze. It had stopped raining, but the grass in her backyard was still damp. Tying her damp red hair in a side ponytail with her newly found hair tie, she set out to work.

At first, she strolled to the front yard, and took out a pair of gardening scissors from a rough bag behind one of the rose bushes. Then she used the scissors and snipped off five blood red roses, pricking her left hand as she held them. Then she went a few steps west and picked four white daisies. Moving front, she cut off four violets, adding them to her collection in her hand. She turned her body around and got a few lilies, white with a pint of pink. She then returned the scissors to the bag and headed to the backyard again. Caught by surprise, she found Ash staring at her from the side of the yard. Only looking at him carelessly for a mere second, she walked to the middle of the backyard and placed the flowers there. Then she started inspecting the yard, looking for something. For a few minutes, with her hands behind her back, she walked around and around. The moonlight shining on her face gave her a look of serene innocence, not the usual iciness she had before. Stopping in front of a rather large rock with ragged ridges, she leaned down to pick it up. Somehow, she grinned as she brought it back to the middle of the yard. Ash saw that but kept silent. She settled the rock down lightly on the grass, lifted the flowers up and arranged them neatly at the edge of the rock.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she glanced at Ash who slowly slumped over to her and dropped his knees onto the grass. They stayed like that for a while, Misty standing and Ash kneeling.

"Thank you Misty." He whispered. His voice wasn't shaking. "My mom would have loved these. She did not deserve to leave like this."

"Don't worry fa- Ash, the police will find out what happened. Until we find her body, this is where we would be paying our respects for her." She whispered back. Suddenly, a cool current blew across them, making the grand trees howl. From behind the messy bushes came a flooding of light, sparkling up the dim night. They swarmed the two, circling them again and again.

"Fireflies…" Misty looked around in awe.

"Goodbye mom."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

_To ten million fireflies, I'm weird cuz I hate goodbyes. I got misty eyes as they said farewell._

-Owl City "Firefiles"

* * *

Some of you might've noticed that the song I was using "Yoru no Uta" from Cardcaptor Sakura, the translated version. I thought the piano part was quite simple so it wouldn't be too far stretched for a little girl to be playing it. And I thought the melody was quite soothing too, perfect for making people falling asleep.

I'm really sorry for how long I took for this update, but school has been really tough. I had 7 tests in 3 days…and I'm only in grade 8. I'm also working on another fic with my friend, FrostyShadows, called "Rebellious Hearts". I can give you the full summary right here:

_Long long ago, when the world was at peace, Team Rocket and Team Galactic fought for the strange power that could allow them to take over the world. Without luck, they decided to take over the world by force, but they had to get rid of each other first. So the war had begun. Hidden in the depths of Hoenn, Team Aqua and Team Magma were formed, allies, who were trying to end the chaos once and for all. Their hard work paid off, sending Team Rocket and Team Galactic to the depth of the Earth. They had become heroes. But years later, they had their own feud, which led the world into chaos once again. Because of their mistakes, the future had to pay for it. Murder, robbery, and gang rape rates were increasing, and the "heroes" did nothing but fight each other, killing innocent people, while Team Rocket was rising once again. Both teams were furious at Team Rocket's strong revival and decided to take over it once and for all. They each sent a team of elite teens to the Team Rocket Training Academy as undercover agents to tear it down from the inside. The kids did not know anything but hate each other, not knowing the true meaning behind their respective teams. As they met unknowingly, they became friends, maybe something more, but as they learned each other's identities, they had become foes. But their journey together only helped them learn the truth about all the blood and hate going around the world. Soon, they had decided to work together and end all the fighting around the world. They were to rebel against their teams, which was what their hearts told them. Multishipping_

There you have it. Not the best summary. We have the first chapter up so please check it out and leave a review. Thanks.

~Hoppip


End file.
